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LDS Church in Saskatchewan
Around the early 1920s a few Latter-day Saints moved to Saskatchewan, mostly from Alberta and settled in Saskatoon, Regina, and other communities. About that same time, G. Gordon Whyte of Moose Jaw acquired a copy of the Book of Mormon, accepted it as being true and requested baptism. He was baptized on 17 August 1923 in Moose Jaw. He is the first known convert in the province. That same year, Whyte and Northern States Mission president John G. Allred, held a street meeting in Regina. The first missionaries sent to work in Saskatchewan in the summer of 1925 were Raymond L. Allen and Alma Ward. They were assigned by the North Central States Mission to work in Saskatoon and Leo E. Nelson and Theodore Reynolds who were assigned to work in Regina. The North Saskatchewan and South Saskatchewan districts were organized on 6 August of that year. On 30 May 1927 the North Saskatchewan District was dissolved and recombined with the South Saskatchewan District to form the Saskatchewan District. A Sunday School was organized on 8 May 1927 in Regina with Gordon Whyte as superintendent. It became a branch on 27 May 1934 also with Whyte as president. That year, Latter-day Saint farmers in southern Alberta and their neighbors donated two boxcars of vegetables and food to families in Saskatchewan suffering from the effects of a severe drought. Among those receiving the aid were 20 families in the Regina Branch. A meetinghouse was dedicated for the Regina Branch in 1939. The Saskatchewan District was incorporated into the Western Canadian Mission on 6 December 1942. This was done in part because it was easier for Church members to pay tithing to mission headquarters in Edmonton. Progress in the area proved difficult during World War II as most missionaries were drafted into the military. This left local members to handle the missionary effort. Full-time sister missionaries, however, were assigned to work in Regina on 6 December 1943. On 3 September 1961 the North Saskatchewan District was organized. Seminary classes were held in the Saskatoon Branch on 27 September 1965. An Indian seminary program also began in 1965 with children on the Piapot, Carry-the-Kettle and Cowesses reserves east of Regina. The first known meetinghouse built by the Church was dedicated in Regina on 19 May 1967. The first stake in Saskatchewan was created in Saskatoon on 5 November 1978, from a consolidation of the Regina and Saskatoon districts. The stake then covered the entire province of Saskatchewan and parts of Alberta and Manitoba. In 2002, membership reached 4,826; and 4,833 in 2003. Regina Saskatchewan Temple The Regina Saskatchewan Temple is the 65th operating temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the 4th temple built in Canada and the 1st temple built in Saskatchewan. It was dedicated on the same day as the Halifax Nova Scotia Temple, marking the first time that two dedications were held on the same day. The Regina Saskatchewan Temple was dedicated on 14 November 1999, by President Boyd K. Packer, acting President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. Two years later, the Regina Saskatchewan Stake was organized on 27 October 2001. Sources: Andrew Jenson, Encyclopedic History of the Church, 1941; North Central States Mission, Manuscript history and historical reports, Church Archives; Wilbur Gordon Hackney, History of the Western Canadian Mission, thesis, 1950; Carol Cornwall Madsen “The Christian Way,” Church News, 1 July 1978; “Pres. Hunter Returns from Mission Tour, Church News, 5 July 1950; “3 New Stakes Formed in U.S., Canada, 3 Others Reorganized,” Church News, 18 November 1978; Liahona, 28 July 1925; Melvin S. Tagg, A History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Canada, 1830-1963, thesis, 1963; Melvin S. Tagg, A History of the Mormon Church in Canada, 1968; Western Canadian Mission, History, 1941-1948, Church Archives; Regina Saskatchewan District, Manuscript history, Church Archives; Saskatoon Branch, Manuscript history and historical reports, Church Archives; Saskatchewan Stake, Manuscript history and historical reports, 1986. See Also * Canada List of Stakes of the Church * TheChurchNews 2010 Almanac: Canada References Category:Children's Songbook Category:Canada Category:Saskatchewan Category:Regina